The Cleopatras and the Jews
The Cleopatras and the Jews
This paper explores a variety of evidence for relations between Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, and her Jewish subjects. In the first part of the paper, the focus is on the profoundly negative portrait of the queen in the works of Josephus, with particular attention to Cleopatra's alleged antipathy to Alexandrian Jews in Josephus's Against Apion. Analysis of Josephus's evidence confirms, I argue, that his case against the queen does not stand up. The second part of the paper offers a detailed consideration of other evidence, epigraphic and literary, which, I suggest, confirms a picture of the queen as continuing the policy of her predecessors with regard to the Jews of the Ptolemaic kingdom, by participating in the long-established practice of extending royal support and protection to Jewish proseuchai (places of prayer). While the evidence does not permit definitive conclusions, it suggests that Cleopatra looked to particular Jewish groups – as to others – within Egypt for support and in this, followed a path taken by Cleopatra II and Cleopatra III. Finally, a few details in Plutarch's Life of Antony may also suggest the queen's political and personal alliances with individual Jews, in Egypt and Judea.
29-64
Pearce, Sarah
802b7bad-e19e-473b-950b-5102629d3927
December 2017
Pearce, Sarah
802b7bad-e19e-473b-950b-5102629d3927
Pearce, Sarah
(2017)
The Cleopatras and the Jews.
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (Sixth Series), 27, .
(doi:10.1017/S0080440117000032).
Abstract
This paper explores a variety of evidence for relations between Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, and her Jewish subjects. In the first part of the paper, the focus is on the profoundly negative portrait of the queen in the works of Josephus, with particular attention to Cleopatra's alleged antipathy to Alexandrian Jews in Josephus's Against Apion. Analysis of Josephus's evidence confirms, I argue, that his case against the queen does not stand up. The second part of the paper offers a detailed consideration of other evidence, epigraphic and literary, which, I suggest, confirms a picture of the queen as continuing the policy of her predecessors with regard to the Jews of the Ptolemaic kingdom, by participating in the long-established practice of extending royal support and protection to Jewish proseuchai (places of prayer). While the evidence does not permit definitive conclusions, it suggests that Cleopatra looked to particular Jewish groups – as to others – within Egypt for support and in this, followed a path taken by Cleopatra II and Cleopatra III. Finally, a few details in Plutarch's Life of Antony may also suggest the queen's political and personal alliances with individual Jews, in Egypt and Judea.
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2 Pearce
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Submitted date: 19 April 2017
Accepted/In Press date: 14 June 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 November 2017
Published date: December 2017
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Local EPrints ID: 411233
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/411233
ISSN: 0080-4401
PURE UUID: 7b7c2f2a-9a1e-4a1f-bca9-e28bdf0a57d8
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Date deposited: 15 Jun 2017 16:32
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:19
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